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How would Wolverine fit in the real world? Click the jump to see.
Originally posted on October 24, 2012.
Wolverine Max #1
Written by Jason Starr
Art by Roland Boschi and Connor Willumsen
Published by Marvel Comics
Jason Starr (writer of Justice Inc back-up) is going to the max with reinventing Wolverine. The new comic book is called Wolverine MAX, and if you haven’t heard of the MAX Universe. You’re missing out. The MAX Universe is more graphic than your usual violent comic book. It basically has more violence, more grit, and it contains explicit language. It’s really for mature readers. However, the MAX Universe is not all about the violence, sex, or the language; it’s about seeing your favourite Marvel character portrayed in the real world; How Wolverine would act in the real world if he really existed. This is what the MAX Universe is all about.
Jason Starr is the perfect writer for this. He is pushing the envelope with Wolverine and doing away with the whole X-Men continuity. So, you won’t be seeing Jean Grey or Cyclops in this comic book. However, you do see Victor Creed aka Sabretooth wandering around Wolverine. In Wolverine MAX, you will still get the essence of Wolverine but it will add more dark grittiness to the character than you have ever seen before.
Synopsis: Wolverine is suffering from memory loss after a huge plane crash. He is trying to remember who he is while his rescuers are calling him John Grant, the Miracle Man. So who is Wolverine really?
Good: Wolverine MAX is seriously a page turner. You really can’t stop reading this issue. Since it is only a twenty three page issue, it kind of feels like a graphic novel. From the beginning, you don’t get so much dialogue or voice-overs explaining what happened to Wolverine in the plane crash. This is great because too many writers overuse voice-overs to tell the audience what’s happening. Sometimes, the audience needs to observe rather than be told what’s going on. It loses the suspense of the comic book as a whole if you do. The voice-overs in this issue were only used to let the reader know what is in Wolverine’s mind AND you know it’s his voice because you’ll read tons upon tons of curse words. In this universe, Wolverine is vulgar as hell! Starr really hits home in portraying Wolverine as a loner and this is Starr’s focus. Wolverine prides himself on being a loner, and Starr hopes to build on this characteristic trait of Wolverine.
The art by Roland Boschi and Connor Willumsen is spot on. You are able to know what’s going on by the art alone without having any dialogue or voice-overs. It is art mastery on their part and this is what makes a good comic book artist. The art is real and in your face as you see tons of blood at the beginning of the issue. You’ll see some really cool stylistic throughout the issue, which is showing Wolverine in different time periods of life. I won’t explain what this means, you’ll have to read the issue to find out.
Bad: As for the art changes, sometimes the different designs of Wolverine are a bit confusing. If you’re just scanning through this; you’re going to get lost very quickly. So, please take your time reading this issue. It is actually worth the sit down to absorb the art. Victor Creed looks really dopey in this issue. He is the guy who looks like an American gold digger with a flipped up cowboy hat from the 1940’s. So, I hope to see an improvement in Creed’s appearance.
It’s a great start to the Wolverine MAX comic book. Starr has picked really powerful themes to develop Wolverine’s character such as loneliness and memory loss. Both themes handicap Wolverine as an individual, but it also provides an air of mystery that makes him interesting. Truthfully, I’m looking forward to Starr’s run on this comic book. I hope he continues to push the envelope because that is what the MAX Universe is all about.
Rating: 5/5
What did you think of Wolverine MAX#1? Are you reading this issue? Why or why not?
There are some images down below that I thought were cool from this issue. See down below.
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